Meat-tendering machine



Aug. 18, 1936. s FERRY 2,051,207

MEAT TENDERING MACHINE I Fi l ed Feb. 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,051,207 MEAT-TENDERING MACHINE Ernest S. Ferry, Kent, Ohio Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,724 17 Claims. (Cl. 17-26) This invention relates to meat tendering machines, including those employed in cubing steaks by deeply scoring the latter along two sets of closely spaced parallel lines at right angles, to facilitate cooking of the steaks.

My invention has among its objects to provide a more efiicient machine of this class; to reduce the driving power required, especially in hand operation; to promote easy removal of the principal working parts for the purpose of cleaning the same after an operation; to provide improved means for adjusting the distance of the feed roller from the cutter according to the thickness of the steak which is being treated and compensating for reduction in the diameter of the cutting knives by sharpening the latterfto allow such adjustment while the machine is running; to avoid undesired wrapping of the steak around the feed roller; to automatically direct the scored steak toward the front of the machine; to provide an improved electric-motor drive; to provide for easy conversion from motor to hand drive or vice versa, and to improve such machines in other respects as will appear.

- This application is a continuation in part of my prior application Serial No. 688,795, filed Sept. 9, 1933.

Of the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an end view, partlybroken away, showing a preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly broken away and in section, on the line 2 2 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view, partly broken away and in section, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig.5 is-a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a section corresponding to Fig. 5, showing a handcrank, shaft, bearing and gear assembly substituted for the motor-driven gear and journal stud.

Fig. 7 is a detail section showing a modified feed-roller adjustment and stop.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7. Inthe drawings, I is a cast hollow frame .casingincluding a base which comprises a hollow table H for supporting the steak before and after treatment, and a pair of integral hollow end standards l2, .l3 for supporting the upper moving parts, together with an upper casing member or cover l4 separably connected with the base standards l2, l3 along a horizontal joint planeli. The cover and standards are held in registry by suitable dowels l6 and are detachably fastenedtogether by means of thumb-screws l1 having shoulders engaging seats on the cover and stems screwing into threaded holes on the fixed standards. The cover includes a pair of end members l8, a connecting member l9 serving as a guard for the cutter, and a lid section 20 hinged at 2| to said connecting member rearwardly of the vertical pass between the cutting and feeding rollers and provided with a handle knob 22 for turning it upwardly and backwardly to insert the steak.

The cover l4 carries, on the under side of its top wall, by a rod 23 fixed in the end members l8 and located underneath the hinge 2|, a clearing plate 24 in the form of a comb pivoted upon said rod 23 and having teeth or fingers projecting between the disks of the cutter hereinafter described, said comb plate being yieldingly held in a forward position against a stop 25, engaging an arm 26 on the plate, by leaf springs 21 attached to the comb plate and engaging the under side of the cover member l9. Said plate is forced rearwardly by the pressure of' the out portions of the steak between the disk knives, and yieldingly forces the steak against the feeding roller hereinafter referred to, preventing the knives from cutting clear through the steak. By thus mounting the comb plate, the latter is removable as a unit with the cover M for cleaning purposes.

28 is a cutter roll mounted upon a horizontal shaft 29 and comprising circular disk knives 30 held apart on said shaft by spacers. The form of the knives or meat-tendering members employed in this cutting element may vary according to whether it is desired to score the meat with continuous, parallel slits, as in cubing steaks, or to impart some other form of incision, but a gang of disk knives whose peripheral speed is several times that of the meat conserves power and, in combination with a suitable feed roller, avoids tearing of the meat. 4

The shaft 29 is mounted in bearings 3| at the division plane l5 between the fixed frame standards l2, l3 and the cover l4 so that the cutter is removable for cleaning when said cover is taken off, the lower half of each bearing 3| being formed on the fixed standard l2 or l3 and the upper half being formed on one of the end members l8 of the cover.

32 is a horizontal; corrugated, meat-feeding roller mountedparallel with the cutter roll 28 and having its acting or rear face spaced from the forward edges of the knives 30, as seen in Fig. 3, by a distance equal to the thickness which it is desired to leave unscored in. the steak. The corrugations are formed by shallow longitudinal ribs having continuous working edges. alternating with grooves of arcuate section, to grip and groove one side of the steak and coact with the knives of the cutter roll to propel the steak without breaking the meat fiber on that side.

The feeding roller-32 is mounted to rotate on a normally-fixed shaft or arbor 33 which can be turned in its mountings for purposes of adjustment, said shaft having end journals or mounting portions 34 located in the dividing plane II in hearings or holders 33, each of which has a lower half upon the frame standard i2 or l3 and an upper half on one of the end members ii of the cover l4, as in the case of the bearings 3L The shaft 33 has an intermediate portion 36, connecting its end portions 34 and eccentric to said end portions, upon which the roller 32 rotates.

For turning the shaft 33-to effect the adjustment of the feeding roller 32 towardand from the cutter roll 28, I provide one end of the shaft with a handle arm 31 secured to the shaft by the endwise clamping action of a nut 33 and a spacer sleeve 39. To hold said disk and shaft at the desired adjustment, there is provided a toothed segment or ratchet plate 40, fixed on the shaft between the end shoulder of shaft portion 33 and the sleeve 39, together with a fixed spring pawl 4| having a 'detent end engaging the teeth of the segment plate. For limiting the adjusting movements of the feeding roller in either direction, there is provided a fixed stop-pin 4! on the frame standard l2, adapted to be engaged by one orthe other of the radial edges of the segment plate.

The described form of setting means permits the position of the feed roller 32 to be adjusted when said roller is in operation as well as when it is stopped. For changing. the setting of the toothed plate on the shaft to compensate for reduction in cutter diameter by-sharpening of the knives 30, the nut 38 is loosened, plate 49 turned through the desired angle on the shaft 33, and the nut again tightened to clamp the parts.

In a modification of the described feed-roll adjusting and setting mechanism illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the rotary adjustment of roller shaft 33 is effected by turning a knurled disk 31' which has splined engagement with said shaft, and the parts are fixed at the desired adjustment by means of a knurled nut 38" which clamps said disk against the frame standard i2. A fixed stop pin 4| is adapted to be engaged by either one of a. pair of radial stop-lugs or projections 42, 43 carried by the roller 32, the projection 42 limiting the forward adjustment of the roller toward the cutter roll 23 and the projection 43 limiting its rearward adjustment, said projections being spaced to permit substantially a half-turn of the shaft 33. To vary the inward limit of adjusting movement to the desired minimum clearance of roller 32 from the knives 30, the lugs are mounted upon a collar 44 which embraces a boss or flange 44 formed on the shaft 33, concentric with its journal 34, and is split in the plane of the lug 42 and clamped upon the boss by a screw 45 connecting the parts of said lug. By loosening said screw and turning the shaft 33 in'the collar by means of the knurled disk 31 and reclamping the collar, the desired minimum clearance of the two rolls may be established;-

For manually driving the cutting and feeding rollers, there is provided, as illustrated in Fig. 6. a horizontal power shaft 46 permanently carried in a bearing sleeve 41 which is externally threaded and detachably screwed in a threaded opening tion of meat shreds and juices, the gear hub and in the fixed frame standard l3, said shaft being provided with a hand-crank 43 for turning it. The connecting spur gearing, whose ratios are 5 observable in the end view, Fig. 1, includes a driving intermediate gear 49 which is internally fluted or splined to engage mating flutes 43' on the power shaft 43 for endwise detachable assembly therewith. When motor drive is substituted, the bearing sleeve 41 isreplaced by a stud 41', and the gear 49 by a corresponding gear 49' journaled on the reduced inner end of said stud as indicated in Fig. 5. In that case 49 becomes an intermediate driving gear in a train including anintermeshing driven gear 50 of equal diameter on the shaft 29 of the cutter roll, whereby the latter is turned in a one-to-one ratio with 41 or with the hand power shaft, togetherv with a pair of connected intermediate 20 gears 5|, 52 turning upon a fixed countershaft or stud 33, the former of which is a large gear meshing with the gear 49' and the latter a smaller driving gear, and a large driven gear 54 meshing with the gear 52 and mounted to turn 25 with the feeding roller 32 about an, end portion 34 of the fixed shaft 33, the latter gear being removably held against axial movement on said shaft portion by a spring-pressed ball latch 54 engaging a groove in the shaft portion 34. 30 By means of the gear train 49* (or 49) ii, 52, 54, the'feeding roller 32 is driven in the opposite direction to the cutter roll 23, and at a slower speed, so that their adjacent portions travel downwardly to efi'ect the desired feeding and 35 scoring of the steak, the turning ratio of the two rolls being approximately 5 to 1, although this could be varied by using different diameters in the gearing. However, it has been found that the cutter roll should rotate not less thanfour times as fast as the feeding roller in manual operation, in order that the knife edges shall draw through themeat at a corresponding speed, and that the crankshaft should rotate at about the same speed as the cutter roll, so that the operator 45 may easily work the machine without an excessively long crank. The large ratio further conserves power in motor operation. The gears 50 and 54 are radially separable from their mating gears 49 and 52 to permit removal of the rollers 23 and 32. Since the feeding roller 32 and its gear 54 turn on different centers, it is necessary to employ a compensating drive connection between the two, here shown as a horizontal pin 55 fixed in an end wall of theroller 32 and occupying a radiallyelongated slot 53 in a hub portion 54 of the gear 54. To reduce the opportunity for clogging of this drive connection by access and accumularoll end are telescoped, as by accommodating said hub in an end recess 32' of the roll.

31. is a steak deflector in the form of a rod or bar having its ends fixed in the frame standards l2, l3 and located parallel with the feed. roll 32, closely adjacent to its outer or upwardly-moving side, for guiding or clearing the scored steak away from the roller and upon the table, when the lid is open, thus avoiding a tendency sometimes met with for the steak to cling to and wrap around the roller and pass again between the latter and the cutter. comparatively dry steaks have less of a wrapping tendency than those which are soft and juicy, but in all cases the suc- 75 tion or surface adhesion between the corrugated feeding roller and the steak, combined with the deflecting action of the comb 34, is such that there is some partial wrapping action tending automatically to guide the leading margin of the descending scored portion of the steak forwardly over the table II where it can readily be grasped by the operator.

For a motor drive, the use of which releases one of the operator's hands for manipulating the steaks before and after scoring and greatly increases the production of the machine, I detachably mount, by means of suitable screw fastenings, an electric motor 58 on the under side of the top wall of frame table II in a compact and concealed assembly with the frame, and protected by the top and sides of the hollow table. Current leads 59 and a hand switch 60 are provided for the motor circuit. In a unit assembly with the motor is included a standard reduction gear with a ratio, for example, of about 100 to 1, contained in a casing 6| carried by the motor casing. The reduction gearing has a horizontal driven shaft 62 in a laterally-projecting bearing 62 and on the end of said shaft is a drive pinion 63 of the same pitch diameter as the gears 49 and 5D. This pinion meshes with an intermediate gear 64 journaled on a fixed screw stud 65, and gear 64 in turn meshes with the intermediate gear 5| of the same pitch diameter, whereby the motor power is communicated to the gear train for driving the cutter and feed rollers 28 and 32.

Since the motor and reduction gear unit 58, 6 I, together with the gear 64 and its journal stud 65, are removable, and may be replaced by substituting'the described hand drive assembly of shaft 46, bearing 41, crank 48 and gear 49 illustrated in Fig. 6 for the parts shown in Fig. 5, it will be evident that the invention provides for readily interchanging the drives according to customer requirements.

In the operation of this machine, the lid 20 is opened to expose the pass-between the rolls, the steak inserted between the rolls and engaged by rotating said rolls through the power means and gearing, and the feeding and cutting action continued to slit the steak nearly through along parallel lines and deliver it upon the table II, whereupon the steak is turned at right angles and the operation repeated to make a second set of cross slits in the case of a cubed steak. The adjustment of the feeding roller 32 to obtain the desired clearance from the cutting roll is effected in the previously described manner, with the handle 31, by turning the shaft 33 having the eccentric roller-carrying portion 36, the teeth on the plate 40 automatically displacing the pawl M which then retains the adjustment. The compensating drive 55, 56 permits the roller 32 and its gear 54 to rotate on the two centers of the shaft members 34 and 36 respectively. When the steak-treating operations are finished, the fastening screws I! may be withdrawn, the cover l4 removed to permit cleaning of its parts including the clearing comb 24, the outing roll 28'lifted out as a unit with its gear 50 and shaft 29 to permit cleaning thereof, and the feeding roller 32, for a like purpose, lifted out as a unit with its gear 54 and adjustment including the shaft 33 and members thereon.

The described embodiment may be variously modified without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. ma meat'tendering machine, the combination of a frame composed of separable parts including a base, meat cutting and feeding elements supported between said parts and removable therefrom for cleaning on separation of the parts, fastening means separablyconnecting the frame parts, a gear train including a pair of oppositely rotating driving gears mounted on the base and a pair of overlying driven gears carried by the respective cutting and feeding elements for turning said cutting and feeding elements in opposite directions and independently separable from said driving gears, and power means on'the frame .base for driving said gear train.

2. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of rotary cutting and feeding elements, a frame carrying said elements and including a steak table below and in front of the feeding element and side members supporting said table, a gear train carried on the .innerside of one of said table-supporting members of the frame, and an electric motor removably mounted on the under side of said table and connected with said gear train.

3. A meat tendering machine according to claim 2 in which the gear train includes an intermediate removable gear having a mounting adapted to receivea substitute gear and manual drive therefor. 5

4. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a casing frame having a pair of end standards and a cover removably mountedthereon and provided with a pivoted lidsection, a rotary feeding roller and a rotary multiple-disk cutting element each removably supported between said standards and cover, a disk-clearing comb for the cutting element carried by said cover, and means for driving the roller and cutting element.

5. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a rotary meat cutter, a coacting meatfeeding roller, gearing for rotating said cutter and roller, including an eccentric gear associated with the roller, and a unitary rotary adjustable means for both ends of said roller, including a member extending through the roller, having provision for varying its distance from the cutter and its relation to the gearing without changing the mesh of said gearing, said adjustable means forming with the eccentric gear an assembly removable as a unit from the machine.

6. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a frame composed of end members each having separable parts, a rotary meat cutter and a rotary meat-feeding roller each removably mounted between said frame parts, an eccentric driving gear and compensating connection at one end of the roller, and an adjusting shaft extending through said roller and removable as a unit therewith, together with said gear and compensating connection, said shaft having an eccentric portion on which the roller turns.

7. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a frame composed of separable parts, a

' drive shaft and gearing actuated thereby, mounted on one of said frame parts, a rotary meat cutter and a rotary meat feeding roller removably mounted between said parts and each having a gear removable as a unit therewith, meshing with the drive gearing and separable therefrom, said cutter and feeder gears rotating in opposite directions, and a rotary adjusting shaft for said feeding roller, having an eccentric roller center and removable with the roller and its gear for varying the distance of said roller from the cutter.

i. In

8. In a-meat tendering machine, the combination of a rotary cutter, a rotary feed roller coacting therewith, adjusting means for varying the distance of said feed roller from the cutter, and a driving gear on the end of said feed roller, having a compensating connection therewith, telescoped with the end of the roller.

9. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a rotary cutter, a rotary feed roller acting therewith and recessed at one end, eccentric adjusting means for varying the distance of said feed roller from the cutter, a driving gear having a radially slotted hub in the end recess of said roller, and a pin on the roller, extending into said slot and forming therewith a compensating roller drive.

10. In a meat scoring machine,'the combination of a rotary cutter, an oppositely rotating feed roller in front of said cutter, a steak table below and in front of the feed roller, yielding steakpressing means coacting with said feed roller for deflecting the scored steak forwardly over said table, and an anti-wrapping deflector in front of said feed roller, for directing the. scored steak upon said table.

11. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of supporting means, a rotary meat cutter and a coacting rotary meat-feeding roller supported by said means, an adjusting shaft eccentrically carrying said feeding roller, means at one end of the roller for fixing said shaft on the supporting means at different rotary positions, and gearing for driving said cutter and feeding roller, including a gear concentric with said shaft, and a compensating connection between said gear and roller.

12. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a, rotary cutter, a coacting feed roller, an eccentric adjusting means for varying the distance of said feed roller from the cutter, a handle, and a ratchet-and-pawl retaining device associated with the handle, the handle being operable to perform an adjustment when the feed roller is either turning or stationary.

13. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a rotary meat cutter, a coacting rotary meat-feeding roller, a shaft eccentrically carrying said roller for varying the distance of the latter from the cutter, means for holding said shaft in different rotary positions, and stop means for determining the extreme positions of said shaft, 6 including a member adjustable about the shaft for varying said extreme positions.

14. In a meattendering machine, the combination of working members comprising a cutter roll having a gang of disk knives and a coaxial driven gear, a parallel longitudinally ribbed feeding roller having another driven gear, means for yieldingly pressing a steak in the pass between said members against the feeding roller, and anterior driving gearing in a train with said driven gears adapted to rotate the cutter roll not less than four times as fast as the feeding roller.

15. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of working members including a forwardly.- mounted, longitudinally-corrugated feeding roller, a parallel, rearwardly-mounted, oppositely-rotating cutter roll geared to rotate several times as fast as the feeding roller, a frame carrying said members and including a steak table located underneath and forward of the pass between said members, and steak-pressing means coacting with said feeding roller to direct the descending scored portion of thesteak from said members forwardly over the steak table. I

16. A meat tendering machine according to claim 15 in which the steak-pressing means is an upright spring-actuated comb pivoted at its upper and free at its lower edge and having fingers between the disk knives.

17. In a meat tendering machine, the combination of a frame, coacting oppositely-rotating rotary feeding and cutting elements carried thereby and geared for rotation of the cutting element at a speed several times that of the feeding element, a driving gear train for said elements and means comprising a unitary assembly of crank, crank-shaft, gear member carried by said shaft and shaft bearing removably mounted on the frame, for applying manual power to one of the faster-rotating members of said gear train.

ERNEST S. FERRY. 

